This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The University of Texas at El Paso proposes continuing support for its Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC), to promote basic research on pathobiological problems prevalent in the Hispanic-majority population along the United States border with Mexico. The institution has assigned priority to research in the fields of (1) infectious diseases, (2) toxicology, and (3) neuroscience and metabolic disorders and has establised units corresponding to these three fields. Each will constitute a separate activity involving 20 participants from the Department of Biological Sciences and Psychology. Four of the participants are new faculty members recruited for their potential to establish independently-funded research programs. The proposed funding is designed to enhance the quantity and quality of biomedical research to a nationally competitive level for grant support. The BBRC will increase the cadre of faculty to reach critical mass in the three research units. Multi-user Research Facilities in cell culture, DNA sequencing and analysis, analytical cytology, biomolecular characterization and separation, and statistical consulting will be enhanced and will continue to provide infrastructural support. The goal of the BBRC is to become a center of excellence for research on pathological mechanisms of disease prevalent in the Border region, to integrate the epidmiological perspective on human health and the applications of biostatistics with basic biomedical research. The BBRC will provide a strong research infrastructure to the doctoral program in the Biological Sciences, so that the University of Texas at El Paso can serve as a amajor point of entry for Hispanics and other underrepresented minorities into the biomedical research mainstream of the nation.